DVD : DragonBall Z: Movie 1 & 2 (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Rating: - Dead Zone and The World's Strongest
After the immense success funimation has had with releasing the remastered Dragon Ball Z series, the same treatment for the movies was inevitable.
This 2 disc collection contains the first two movies: 'Dead Zone' and 'The world's strongest'. It comes in a nice steelbook packaging, like the previous Trunks and Bardock double feature.

I happen to own an older DVD release of these first two movies, (In the first srike box set) and I must say there is an incredible difference in quality. The movies in this set look absoluteley beautiful as the picture has been cleaned up immensly. When I saw these films prior to being remastered, I didn't enjoy them as much. This is because I'd watched seasons 1 to 4 of the remastered DBZ series and the difference in quality really put me off. However after watching this release I must say that I enjoyed both films thoroughly.
Both films are pretty simple when it comes to the plot, but if you are looking for straight up DBZ action then you will not be disappointed. Though each feature lasts for about 50 minutes, plenty of the action and comedy that we love from the series has been included.

I think that the first movie, Dead Zone is set somewhere before the Saiyan saga. It is a simple story that begins with the evil Garlic Jr (from the season 4 filler arc) Kidnapping Gohan along with the Dragon Ball he wears on his hat. He wants the Dragon Balls to become immortal, so what ensues is an a big fight in Garlic's layer when Goku, Krillin and Piccolo go to rescue Gohan. There is some great humour in this movie, especially with Gohan, while under his captives, eats an apple not knowing that it is infused with alcohol (or something like that), therefore leading to hilarious results. In true DBZ fashion, the action is brilliant, however it is nothing compared to the next movie.

The World's strongest is set just after the fight with Vegeta in season 1. It is about a scientist called DR Wheelo (who just so happens to be a brain in a Jar) searching for the world's best fighter in order to fuse his spirit with in order to have the perfect body and mind. He consequently sets his sights on Master Roshi, however when he hears that Goku is even stronger, he then becomes the new target. This leads to a huge battle of epic proportions between the forces of good and evil. The action is a lot more intense and is absoluteley top notch in this movie and at the same time, it looks beautiful.

Unfortunately, special features in this DVD set are scarce. The first disc containing a commentary and some trailers and the second one only containing trailers. However it is cool to see a trailer for both season 6 of the series and the next double feature containing the movies 'Tree of Might' and 'Lord Slug'.

If you are colecting the Remastered DBZ season boxsets you should definetly check this collection out. and if you are looking for DBZ in it's full entirety as it was meant to be seen then this is definetly for you, however, if you are not bothered by quality then there is no real point in buying this. These movies are enjoyable stand alone stories, with brilliant action and comedy, but expect no real caracterisation to occur here. Newcomers to the series can easily enjoy these as you do not need to know anything about the DBZ universe to appreciate them. The DBZ movies look set to only get better, so now I can't wait for the next double feature release.